It's dark. Everything is red and black. The sword is raised, blood coating the edges. Hair sticks to the forehead, sticky and dark. Dress torn, the checker pattern black with ash. The monster's face is contorted with agony, wings folded. Watching, a man. A hat rests atop dark red hair, an insane grin flourishing across the pale face.

Her pencil crayon broke, and she cursed loudly. Dr. Cross chose that moment to enter, firmly shutting and locking the stark white door behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the drawings on the table, the dark colours with no contrast. The girl sitting at the desk glared at him in anger. The room in which she sat was bare and dull. A stiff single bed was unmade in the corner, a television played Willy Wonka in black and white, and a small plastic chest of clothing sat up against the wall.. The girl who sat at the plastic table was dark haired, with large, almost black eyes. She had dark circles under her eyes, which stood out against her powder pale skin. Her hands are calloused at the finger tips from the wear of the pencil crayons, and she her mouth is set in a thin line. Her frame is thin, with bones that stick out at the wrists. She wears a white dress, with no visible seams.

To the casual observer, the girl would seem sickly, worrying, dark. In reality, the observer would be right.

Her name was Alice Liddle. Convicted murderer, diagnosed with delirium, insanity, hysteria. She had killed her father at the age of eight, was placed in an asylum almost immediately, and that was where she remained. Since then, she has been obsessed with drawing and writing stories. Her drawings were, if anything, more disturbing than her crimes. She had run hundreds of black and red crayons to dust, the crumbled stubs falling to the side. The stories which accompany them make no sense, instead remaining sentence fragments and random words. I need to finish the story. This sentence is everywhere on the drawings. The characters are as twisted as her soul. The madness flows through their facial expressions.

Doctor Cross sighed, and sat across from the ninteen year old.

"Aren't you a bit old for this Alice? We have gone through this, you have to let go if you want to heal." Alice scowled.

"They are my drawings King Heart. I have a story to finish." He sighed.

"Alice, my name is Anthony, remember?" She shook her head.

"You are the King Heart. You're keeping me from being killed by the jabberwocky." Dr. Cross tried to look patient .

"Alice, there is no such word as Jabberwocky. I've told you several times, that admitting to these crimes and not hiding behind these stories is the first step to getting you out of here and back to your mother." Alice rolled her dark eyes.

"I'll never see the white rabbit again. The rabbit always ran away." Doctor Cross stood, closing the dark brown file.

"I cannot help you until you want to be helped Alice. You know that. Somewhere inside your stories lies the real Alice Liddle. Bring her out for me. Please Alice." She shook her head, dark curls flying.

"I've told you King. I am not the Alice you've been hunting. You should be looking for someone else." The doctor left, an angry expression on his normally placid face. Alice went back to her stories.

Alice was woken by a short man in a dark black suit with hearts sewn into the lapels. He wore a miniature top hat, and his hair stuck out the sides. He sighed.

"You must be Alice." She blinked innocently.

"Yes, my name is Alice. What is so important that you had to rouse me from my sleep?" The man spoke quickly.

"I am the King of Hearts. My wife, the queen, she wants your head." Alice laughed softly.

"Many have wanted my head before Mr. King. I fail to see why it is so important." The King let out a small sigh of frustration.

"Alice, the only way to save yourself is to admit it. I can convince the Queen to pardon you if you admit to your guilt!" Alice smiled at the man, the way an adult might smile chidingly at a small child.

"Oh my dear King, I have comitted no crime. Now, please excuse me, the hatter will be joining me at any moment."

"Alice!" She jerked her head up. Her lawyer Dr. Howell was laughing.

She smiled, her gaunt face crinkling.

"Hatter!" She exclaimed, happily. Howell wrapped her up in a hug.

"Oh Alice, you are a strange, wonderful child." He perched on the chair across from her. "So, what's the difference between a raven, and a writing desk?" She laughed, her eyes lighting up.

"Um, the letter A!" She squealed. He grinned.

"Absolutely. You are forever catching my riddles my dear." She smirked.

"You will never catch me Hatter." He nodded.

"I figured. I asked Penny to bring us some tea." Her eyes glowed.

"The White Queen will be joining us?" He nodded.

"Of course Alice. We must discuss the plan of action against the Red Queen and the Duchess." At that moment, Penny entered, nurses uniform an instant indication of the origin of her name. It was crisp, a stark white matching the remaining hospital. The pleated skirt and blouse were simple, a small white hat crowning the rest of her. She carried a tray, on which sat an ornate tea set, made of plastic and painted by Alice a few years previously. It featured a scene from Wonderland, with Alice and a Hatter seated across from one and other drinking tea. Alice clapped.

“Yes, brilliant. Do join us Queen.” Penny laughed.

“I can spare but a few precious moments, this kingdom is falling into disaster dear Alice." Penny always played along, insisting to all who disapproved that this was the only way Alice had ever coped. Through stories. She made up names for others, drew them, and wrote about them. She lived inside a Wonderland, and Penny thought that it was better Wonderland then the horrid asylum. She sat across from Alice now and served them each a cup of lukewarm tea. The asylum avoided giving patients anything hot. Soups and teas were always served lukewarm, but Alice had managed to make this a part of her story.  Wonderland, according to her, was in the midst of a dire crisis, and the Queen of Hearts was refusing to allow proper food and drink to go to the people. As they sat and drank their tea, the three discussed the various politics of Wonderland, Alice enjoying herself hugely. A loud rap at the door interrupted them, and Alice's dark eyes filled with an intense sort of fear. 

"The Queen." She murmured horrified. 

"Alice! What on earth are you doing child?" The Queen of Hearts glared at the young Woman who sat at the table in her garden. Alice smirked. 

"I am merely sitting and pondering your valuble lessons oh Queen."  The Queen nodded sagely. 

"Very well my dear. Now we must discuss court today." Alice nodded 

"I've been contemplating the food shortage in Wonderland your majesty." The plump queen laughed, her ample stomach jiggling and shaking at Alice's comment. 

"The people are simply complaining for no apparent reason my darling sweet child. You must understand that they are simply jealous of our status as royals. They do not understand the strain of running such an enormous kingdom. They cannot possibly believe that we might work as hard-"

"Your Majesty!"  A card ran into the room, black spade flushed with sweat. "A piece of food! It's been stolen!"

A fat woman with dark red hair piled on top of her head entered the room. She had a red dress which covered her ample stomach, but featured her large bust. Her name was Mrs. Redmayne, and she ran the asylum. She was also a tutor and therefore was in charge of teaching boring humdrum lessons or what Alice called "lectures of the twentysixtieth mimsy" which made Mrs. Redmayne angry and Dr. Howell smile. She entered with a great sniff of disapproval when she saw Penny sitting across from Alice. 

"Are you not supposed to be at work Ms Amazon?" Penny flared slightly.
 

"I am entitled to a break, as is any employee of your asylum Mrs. Redmayne. As a matter of fact, I checked with Doctor Cross, and he informed me quite willingly that he figures a trip to Alice's room would not be a hardship on her. So I would like to ask that you allow us to finish our visit." Alice sighed. 

"Never mind White Queen, the Queen of Hearts must give another lecture on the importance of mimsy." Redmayne stiffened. 

"My name is Mrs. Redmayne Alice. Not the Queen of Hearts, however lovely a name that may be. Also, we do not teach mimsy, mimsy is not a word Alice Liddle. We discuss mathematics in the hopes that you will learn the importance of real world conflict and confrontation. Now, please clear the table and we will begin work." Dr. Howell opened his mouth to protest, but Alice waved him off with a flick of her pale wrist, fingers long and flashy. 

"Very well Queen." She said, an air of annoyed patience on her stern pretty face. "We may begin at your lesure." And so she did, discussing the division of powers as a bored Alice continued a new sketch in her head. Doctor Howell and Penny retreated into the hallway. 

"I worry so much about Alice, Finnley" Penny said, touching his chest. He carressed her cheek lightly. 

"Oh my dear, we all do. I believe in her innocence and sanity just as much as you, but there is nothing we can do at the moment. All we can do is wait, you see. Wait and watch and listen. She distorts reality in her stories but somewhere there lies a story of the night her father died. The justice system has been unfair to the lovely child, but not uncommonly so. We can only pray for her now love." Penny's normally cheerful face was a mask of anger. 

"It is all because of that rotten woman. Stupid, nasty Mrs. Redmayne. It is no wonder half the children go mad in here, I would too, growing up in such a dark, stark, disgusting home." Penny burst into sudden tears. "I can not stand it Finnley! The poor child, she looks so ill. She's pale, she has shadows under her eyes, how can you simply stand there and say we must pray! I cannot pray anymore Finnley. I simply cannot." The good lawyer simply wrapped her up in an embrace. 

"Oh Penny dearest, I wish I saw the world the way Alice does sometimes. You know how I mean, as  a child sees a story book or a novel. In pictures and characters, almost dream like." Penny was calmer now, and she turned her sparkling green eyes to meet Doctor Howell's dark brown ones. 

"I don't know if I should enjoy that way of seeing things particularly Dr Howell. Not if it were to land me in this hell hole. The way Alice sees things is brilliant and invigorating. I love her stories, and know more about the politics of Wonderland than of my own country's. But I couldn't do it. I would get to lost in reality to ever really find myself in Wonderland. Though God knows I'd certainly love to live there." With that, she left the wonderful man standing in the dimly lit hallway to ponder all they had discussed. 

You have to finish the story, I scream, still laughing.

A red courtyard. A dark room. No one seems to understand. The pain. The pain crushes everything I am. A sword. The sword is a choice. The truth. How to get at the truth. Why is everything so difficult to understand? Why can no one pry the truth. Someone's blocked it out. 

Alice awoke in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of her lungs. She knew no one would hear, that the screams were worth nothing more then eradicating the fear which was so firmly implanted in her mind. What was it she had dreamed? It was scary. She got out of bed and turned on her light. Going to the chest which held her clothing, she fished out a red pencil crayon from between a pair of neatly folded argyle socks. She began to colour furiously, drawing a dark figure in a doorway. A shape lay on the floor, the red seeming to pool out from the black outline. She shaded and scraped and did not look up until she had completed the fearsome photo of her minds eye. A man lay, clearly dead, upon a concrete floor. A shadowed figure, with no face or distinctive features hunched in the doorway. A girl, face distorted in agony, was crouched over the man. Satisfied, Alice crawled back into bed and went to sleep. But, as the light once again faded and Alice slept on, the drawing was slipped off the table and torn to shreds. The shreds were then pocketed and the figure, ever so quietly, slipped from the room. 

Alice awoke in her room at the queen's court. She glared upward into the black night, and waited for sleep to settle her back into her dreams. When she realized this would not be the case, she stood, slipped out of the room and into the inner garden. The garden, when it was not overrun by the Queen and her various croquet playing friends, was Alice's favourite place in the whole castle. It was always warm, and was protected from the remaining world with dark higgledy vines, which were a deep red in colour. Rose bushes lined the outside and inner areas, and a stone pathway wound its way throughout. As she walked, Alice began to think about the fact that, eventually, she would have to face the fearsome monster known to her as the Jabberwocky. The feasome beast was a dark black, with enormous fangs and shiny, metal proof scales. It had glowing red eyes, which the card folk whispered could see straight into your soul. The caterpillar had told her, just before his death, just before Alice was forced to join the Queen's horrible disgusting court, that she was to kill the one who had killed him. Lest he murder her. 

Alice was woken by a loud bang of the door. An immensly fat ugly woman was bustling in, dressed in the same white nurses uniform as Penny, but looking distinctly less happy to be in it. She leered at Alice, murmuring darkly as she set down a plastic mug filled with light brown tea, a hunk of bread, already buttered, and a piece of ham to eat with it. 

"Get up then you lazy child!" She snapped. "I have never met anyone with your ability to sleep through the day." Under her breath, she quickly murmured 'nasty child, devil spawn, no wonder she's here gotta get out.' Alice rolled her eyes, and sat at the breakfast table, munching on her bread as the Willy Wonka movie began playing for the thousandth time. She smiled as the children began running round the room filled with sweets, and a scratchy voice sang about Imagination. Nurse Adelaide, as she was called by most, sniffed loudly and left slamming the door. Over the song, Alice heard the scraping of the key in the lock, and sighed quietly. She hated forever being locked up, in a room with no windows, alowed only the most basic of items. It simply wasn't fair really. She ate in total silence, waiting for anyone to make their way into the room. The last person she expected came in. A much louder scraping had ensued then usual, and Alice waited patiently for whoever it was to open the door and make their way inside. A boy was standing there. He was thin, with mouse brown hair, and skin as pale as hers. He closed the door, placing a finger carefully over his lips as he scraped his makeshift key into the lock. He turned to her. 

"You must be Alice." His voice shocked her, it was warm and rich, not at all the normal voice of a boy of his age, which looked to be about 17. He had an easygoing, lazy smile, which took up most of his face. His eyes intrigued her the most however. They were enormous and green, vaguley cat like in style. He grinned at sat down next to her. "What, don't you talk?" She shook herself mentally. 

"Of course I talk. I'm wondering how on earth you got in here." He laughed. 

"Ain't no where old Chester can't go Alice. You'll be forever seeing my face popping up now, you won't be able to get rid of me." She laughed. 

"It'd certainly be nice seeing someone besides the nasty Queen and her Duchess." She confessed. He laughed. 

"Those are some excellent names. What do you call everyone else hey?" She grinned, a smile taking over her whole face. 

"Well, there's the Hatter, he's my very good friend." Chester nodded. 

"That must be the bloke I see popping in from time to time. Great fondness for tea if I am not mistaken." Alice chuckled. 

"Quite. Then the White Queen, knows more about the goings on in Wonderland then I do." Chester raised and eyebrow, still smiling. 

"Is that what you call this hell hole then? Wonderland?" She sighed, trying to think how to explain. 

"This isn't all of Wonderland here, this is simply the Red Queen's court, where I must stay until I fight and kill the Jabberwocky." Chester was not looking at her the way most people did, on the contrary he looked wildly delighted. 

"Well then, ain't you something else. Have you any drawings or stories written about this Wonderland?" She nodded. 

"Yes tons." She stood and walked over to the chest, pulling out a handful of the pictures. "I can never have it make sense though. It's always just bits and pieces, I could swear they go missing half the time." Chester looked at each drawing carefully. 

"These" he said slowly "Are incredible. Who in the name of her majesty the White Queen taught you how to draw Alice?" She blushed, her face hot and red in contrast to its usual powder white.

"I taught myself mostly. They gave me crayons and paper after a few years, to keep me occupied." His cat-like eyes bulged. 

"A few years? How long have you been here then?" She sighed. 

"Since I was eight. According to them, I killed my father." Instead of turning tail and racing out of the room, Chester looked outraged. 

"They ain't got no rights to keep you locked up in this here room so long then. Since you was eight, blimey, I've been here under a year and I can not wait to get the hell back out." 

"What brought you here then?" He shook a finger at her. 

"Another time Alice love, another time. So, will I ever make it into Wonderland?" Deciding not to press the issue, Alice nodded in acent at his question. 

"Yeah, most do at one point or another. Here, shall I draw you?" He nodded eagerly, and Alice went to grab some more pencils. She thought about how he had said he could get in anywhere, and his large eyes and smile. Very well, he would be a cat. Chester was his true name, but no one had their earthly names in Wonderland. Cheshire on the other hand. Yes, the Cheshire cat would do very nicely indeed. She sketched away, colouring and shading as Chester sat patiently. Finally, she flung the drawing back at him.

"There you are then." She said, smiling. He looked at the drawing and laughed, a loud guaffaw that made Alice start slightly. 

"That is bloody fantastic. You think I'm a cat hey?" She nodded and put her feet up on the table. 

"Your eyes are cat like and you smile like a cat." His eyes really were green. In a way Alice had never actually seen on a person. He smirked at her comment about his smile. 

"In what way does a cat smile?" Alice took a sip of her tea. 

"Like you. Mischevious, devious, almost evil in a way." His smirk widened. 

"I like you Alice Liddle." She started. 

"How do you know my last name?" He stood, his lanky body filling out from under the table. He winked at her as he peered out the door, to check for any passing nurses. 

"I know more then you might think chickadee. I'll be back to see you soon OK." She cried out. 

"No! Stay!" Chester smiled his wide grin again. 

"Alice, I can't, I'll be caught. Draw out our encounter, I'll be back when you least expect me." With that, he vanished, tail coats flying out behind him. Alice took his advice, pulling out a piece of paper and colouring and writing. 

"Alice."  A voice drawled, soft and warm. She looked up to see an unfamiliar face. A cat's face. She looked into its eyes, which were green, and at its smile, which was enormous  and toothy. 

"How did a beast like you make it into the castle?" She asked, glaring at him. His smile remained under her sweltering glare. 

"I can go anywhere Alice Liddle." She jumped at her full name.

"Where did you hear that name?" He laughed. 

"I know many things my dear." She laughed feeling suddenly quite happy. 

"Well Cat, I have not got anything else to do. Sit talk to me." He laughed and floated down to her level. 

"Very well. I'm happy to join you for a time anyway." Alice nodded at the teapot. 

"Cup of tea?"  The cat shook his head slowly. 

"No thank you."  She nodded and they spent a short period chatting, before the cat looked at the sky and floated up. 

"I am afraid I must depart my dear Alice." She sighed. 

"Please stay." He winked, his large eyes folding in on themselves. 

"I'll be back love, don't you fret. But I'll be caught if we aren't careful about our little meetings." With that he floated upwards and disapated with the wind. 

A calm voice, beautiful and familiar. 

The darkness is slowly creeping over Wonderland. No one is safe. The queen's rath is coming and none shall make it through. Unless one girl without fear comes to save the remaining world from mortal peril. She has a sword. A sword and a choice. A sword, a choice, and a cat. A sword, a choice, a cat, and a Hatter. A sword, a choice, a cat, a Hatter, and most important of all, her own madness. The madness many would claim owns, controls and weakens her. But She knows. She knows what she must do, who she must become. She is Alice of Wonderland. And she will prevail. 

"I need you to take a deep breath." Alice rolled her eyes. 

"I've informed you many times Mr. Hare that I need no health exam." The doctor's hands shook as he laughed. 

"Well Alice" He wheezed as his own chest rattled with his breathing. "I" He coughed loudly "I have to give you these examinations for you to stay out of" His cough worsened. "Stay in the asylum." She took a solid breath, almost bragging as the old man's tufts of hair wiggled and waggled with every moment. He nodded and his jittery hands made a scraping note on his dark brown clipboard. He managed to do so without dropping the pen, which Alice considered a major accomplishment on his behalf. He finished his examination and nodded. 
"Very well Alice." His voice was high pitched and creaky, and he wore a monocle scrunched over a pale brown eye. He had only three small tufts of hair which stuck out at random angles, and his entire body shook constantly. He bent and smiled as he transfered the papers into Alice's file. 
"Oh bungerdruge" he muttered in annoyance as the papers flew all over the white exam room. Alice giggled as she helped the wheezing tired old individual pick up the papers and stow them in her file. She caught a glimps of some of the words written on her mental health page. 

"Unfit to leave the asylum, very angry with others, unable to accept the reality of her mental barriers." She glowered at the file, but the sweet old doctor was ignoring every blessed thing the poor girl did. She left the room a moment later with a random nurse who'd been sent to fetch her. 

The card soldier held her arm as she walked toward the court room. She held her head high as others stared at her defiantly, with an open hostility she did not enjoy. It made her uneasy to see all of these strangers glare at her, as though she had commited a terrible crime. She ignored the glared and stalked through the hallways of the castle. The Queen sat on an enormous throne which dwarfed the fat woman by comparison. 

"Alice, darling. Come foreward dear." She walked past the remaining soldiers, all of whom glared at her with a hatred she had never seen on their faces. She curtsied for the queen before looking her in the eyes, meeting the ice blue ones defiantly. 

"Your Majesty called for me?" The queen nodded. 

"I must discuss an urgent matter with you my dear." She glared at the remaining soldiers. "You may leave us." The cards nearly fell over one and other trying to be the first out the door. 

Mrs. Redmayne lounged in her chair, glaring down at Alice. 

"Your lawyer Doctor Howell and that impertinent nurse Ms. Amazon have been hounding me to get you out of your solo room." Alice's black eyes lit up with starts of the night at the prospect. 

"Really your majesty?" She sniffed loud and aggrevated. 

"Perhaps. Alice Liddle, you are officially on probation. If your behaviour remains excellent, and you are polite and helpful, not to mention keeping up with your lessons and paying good attention during your classes, then in one month, you shall be moved into a dual room with Chester Mau." Alice was gleeful and childlike in her abundant joy at the prospect. 

"Thank you your majesty. You will not regret this decision I swear it." The woman sniffed again. 

"Perhaps I shall and perhaps I shall not Ms. Alice Liddle. You may return to your room with the fantastic Mrs. Adelaide, who will be writing the Nurses report on your behaviour. Therefor I suggest you be polite and curtueos with her, lest she reccomend a longer stay." 

Alice groaned inwardly but smiled her absolute sweetest smile. "Thank you so much again your highness. I will be on my best behaviour." After returning to the room, Alice requested some better colours and spent the afternoon drawing the Wonderland tea house. The colours were vibrant and cheerful,with neon red roses which blossomed from between gorgeus green vines. Alice herself sat with the cheshire cat, his grin wide as they sat, the cat hovering a few inches above his ornate chair. The tea set was bone china, expertly shaded and drawn with beautiful flowers painted along its edges. Once finished, Alice wrote a short phrase above it, which read, Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves, Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe, All mimsy were ye borogoves; And ye mome raths outgrabe. Smiling at the though of Mrs. Redmayne seeing the spelling, Alice placed the brand new drawing on her wardrobe before crawling into bed and starting Qilly Wonka from where it had left off when she'd left for her physical exam with Doctor Cascus. 

She smiled at the lovely pictures, the happy smiling children as they discovered a world they hadn't known existed. The movie reminded her of her father, who had told her so many fantastic stories about the worlds he lived in. She had always loved the tales he spun, holding her on his lap as he talked of beasts and adventures, of lions and tigers and toads which could talk. Of elves who sang songs and of mice who fought bravely against nasty monarchs and cruel witches. He sat and smoked his hookah and told her stories, and that was all she ever knew of him. All she remembered. She suddenly felt very sad, and angry. It wasn't fair that everyone doubted her, she would never kill such a man as her father. Handsome he was to, yes, very handsome, with eyes like souls. She had no real idea of course what souls looked like, but she assumed they were quite nice. Dark perhaps, but a beautiful kind of dark. Like a summers sky in wonderland, where purple constellations and blue galaxies intertwined, and where anyone and anything became glowing in its dazzling darkness. Yes that was a soul, a galaxy of colour and light and happiness and beauty. But dark colours would forever mix in with the white, music written in base clef would always undermine the high sweet notes of the treble. Souls, Alice thought, were very much like music. Music and art and everything she still had. She must only have her soul. Despite Adelaide's claims that she had sold her soul to the devil, she must still have it. Because she had music and her drawings and writing. Her sould was poured into those colours and it was beautiful and amazing and the best thing she had ever experienced. With this realization, Alice knew something she had never known before. It came out in a whisper, a horrified, incredulous whisper. 
"I never killed my father. It. Was. Not. Me" The words seemed so strange that she said them again and again and again. "I didn't do it." Louder then. "It wasn't me." In a scream which rattled her table she cried to the world. "I didn't kill my father!" Her excitement caused her to race around the room shouting and dancing. "I didn't do it, it wasn't me! I didn't do it, it wasn't me! I didn't do it, it wasn't me! I didn't do it, it wasn't me! I didn't do it, it wasn't me!" She flopped onto the bed, face red, tears racing down her cheeks which were flushed rose petals on a wilted bush. The bed had never felt quite as good as it did, the hard mattress a cloud on which lay the happiest girl in the world.  

"I never killed my father." 

 The person grins, a terrible grin, and tosses me what it was pointing at Daddy.